Horus, one of the most significant deities in ancient Egyptian mythology, was the son of the first divine king and queen, Osiris and Isis. In human form, he was often worshipped as a child, but he was also closely associated with the falcon and, as a sky god, with the sun. Depictions of Horus as a child frequently appear in falcon mummy cemeteries, placed alongside falcon-shaped mummy coffins, suggesting that they served similar votive purposes.

Medium: Bronze, gold
Date: 664–30 B.C.E.
Dynasty/Period: Dynasty 26 or later, Late Period to Ptolemaic Period
Dimensions: 11 3/4 × 2 3/4 × 11 1/2 in. (29.8 × 7 × 29.2 cm)
Accession Number: 05.394 (Brooklyn Museum)

The name Horus designates primarily two deities in Egyptian tradition: Horus the Elder (Horus the Great), one of the original five gods, and Horus the Younger, the son of Osiris and Isis. As historian Jimmy Dunn notes, “Horus is the most important of the avian deities,” but he assumes so many forms and is represented in such varied ways that “it is nearly impossible to identify the ‘true’ Horus.” In general, however, the name refers either to the elder Horus or to the younger god who avenged his father, defeated his uncle Set, and restored order to Egypt.

The Latin name Horus derives from the Egyptian Hor, meaning “the Distant One,” a reference to his role as a sky god. Horus the Elder, brother of Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys, was known in Egyptian as Harwer or Haroeris (“Horus the Great”). Horus the Child (Hor pa khered), son of Osiris and Isis, was later identified with the Greek god Harpocrates after Alexander the Great’s conquest of Egypt in 331 B.C.E. Although the name Harpocrates also translates as “Horus the Child,” the Greek deity evolved into a distinct figure: the god of silence and secrecy, often portrayed as a winged child holding a finger to his lips.